Meet Rocky

It all began with an email to our neighborhood watch group titled: Found Kitten. I’ll fill you in on the entire story of how Rocky came to live with us later, but for now… We have found out that our 9 year old Thing Two is allergic to cats. Her allergies have become harder and harder for her to deal with now. Also, we’re having to keep Rocky closed in the kids’ room to keep her away from our 75lb yellow lab, Sonny. This is no longer a healthy lifestyle for Thing Two any more than it is for Rocky. We are now reaching out to all of our friends and family to try and find Rocky a better home.

Let’s rewind back to us receiving that Found Kitten email… We already had our 2 year old Yellow Labrador, Sonny, and we wanted a cat as well, but knew that the cat would either need to be a kitten or one that was already comfortable around dogs. So seeing this message raised our hopes that if no owner was identified, we may be able to get a little kitten for our family and we reached out to the neighbor stating that we’re interested if no owner was found.

One week later, the neighbor asked us if we were still interested. The next morning, I drove Thing One & Thing Two a few blocks with a nice clean kitty carrier to meet and pick-up the kitty. The neighbor that found this cat was unable to bring the cat into her home because she already had an indoor cat that had a contagious infection, so she was tending to this stray outside. She had begun calling the cat Rocky because of her raccoon-like tail. Rocky was so little we too thought she was a kitten and she was sweet and accepting of us so we agreed to take her in.

The following day I took her to our vet to have her checked and was shocked to find out that this “kitten” had an estimated age of at least 13 years! She also had a thyroid issue that required medication. So, one day and over $300 of vet costs later, we went from having a new kitten, to having a sick old cat. It was hard to take, but we loved her no less than before. In fact, maybe a little more because we now felt some extra compassion for her age and condition.

That was where our good experiences lessened and some unfortunate realizations began to manifest. First of all, Rocky did not like Sonny one bit and attacked him multiple times after he would make the mistake of rushing up to sniff her. This required us to keep them separate. Rocky’s realm became the kids’ room and any time Sonny would be either out on his walk or snoozing on our bed, we would let Rocky have free reign of the entire house. We hoped that the separation strategy we implemented would become part of Rocky’s and Sonny’s routine and we could all live harmoniously together. Instead we feel more and more that Rocky is wanting to be out in the rest of the house with all of us (minus Sonny) and that we’re making her life unpleasant.

Today I reached out to a local no-kill animal shelter and asked if they could take her. I was told by a friend about this particular shelter and that I should be prepared to offer a large cash donation for taking Rocky because of her age. Our family worked hard to save up $300 over the past two months. Unfortunately, my idea of a large donation and this shelter’s needs are very far apart. They told me that they could only take Rocky with a $2,500 donation. I don’t blame them at all as I know they would take good care of her and tend to all of her medical needs (which are not cheap).

So I am asking if there is anyone you know of that may be willing to give this sweet kitty a good home? She is gentle with all people (including children) and loves attention. If you or someone you know can help, please contact me here.